NYC Radio Live

Deepal Chodhari brings the Sunrise at Ragas Live 2016

Deepal Chodhari (santoor), Shiva Ghoshal (tabla) play a 5am set at Ragas Live Festival 2016 at Pioneer Works.

Adam Rudolph Podcast 273

Here we revist a 2011 interview with the master percussionist and luminary Adam Rudolph.  Adam wil be bringing his Go:Organic Orchestra to collaborate with the Brooklyn Raga Massive this Friday July 27th 2017. http://rma.cm/2nq  He'll be live with David Ellenbogen on WKCR 89.9 FM-NY this Tuesday from 12pm-3pm. www.wkcr.org  

Book of J - Podcast 271

The Book of J, Jeremiah Lockwood and Jewlia Eisenberg, stopped by the apartment for a beautiful  acoustic set.
They perform music from all over the world to and our celebrating their new album and their month long residency at Barbes.  
 
Jewlia Eisenberg works at the intersection of voice, text and diaspora consciousness, primarily as the leader of the ensemble Charming Hostess. Her music is mostly released on the Tzadik label Radical Jewish Culture imprint. Recordings include Sarajevo Blues on Bosnian resistance poetry and Trilectic on the political-erotic world of Walter Benjamin. She often works in immersive installation, making hybrid spaces that incorporate music performance, visitor participation, and experimental ritual. Installations include Teraphim (Meridian Gallery) on household gods; and The Bowls Project (Yerba Buena Center for the Arts) on Babylonian women’s amulets. Jewlia’s work has been curated into the Contemporary Jewish Museum in SF and the Museum of Peace in Uzbekistan; she performs regularly in Europe and the Americas. She has been a visiting artist at CalArts, MIT, and the University of Colorado, where she has taught on the boundary lands holding music and critical theory. Her interests include class war and knitting. Brooklyn born and bred, she now calls Oakland home. For more: www.charminghostess.com.
Jeremiah Lockwood’s music career began with over a decade of apprenticeship to the legendary Piedmont Blues musician Carolina Slim, playing in the subways of New York City. He also trained under his grandfather Cantor Jacob Konigsberg and performed in his choir. Jeremiah’s band The Sway Machinery seeks inspiration from diverse realms of experience related to the cultural geography of New York City. The Sway Machinery has played around the world, including stints at legendary music festivals like Montreal Jazz, Roskilde, and perhaps most notably, Festival au Desert in Timbuktu, Mali. In addition to leading The Sway Machinery, Jeremiah toured for years as guitarist in the popular world-beat band Balkan Beat Box and has scored numerous film and video projects. Jeremiah was a recipient of the 2007-8 Six Points Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Artists, was 2010 Artist-in-Residence for the Forward and was a 2011 Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra Composer Fellow. Jeremiah is currently working on a PhD in Education and Jewish Studies at Stanford University. His recent recordings include a solo album, entitled LOCKWOOD, a new record from The Sway Machinery entitled Purity and Danger and, most recently a collaboration with the Brooklyn-based independent community Because Jewish, entitled Kol Nidre. For more www.swaymachinery.com.

Pt. Nayan Ghosh - Live Performance and Interview

Recorded last just last night in the Mercy Home chapel we feature a live tabla solo performance and interview with Pt. Nayan Ghosh.  This was produced by Brooklyn Raga Massive and the maestro was joined by Ishaan Ghosh (tabla) and Rohan Prabhudesai (Harmonium).  
Jump to the 1hr16 mark to hear our great conversation.  
 
 

Noura Mint Seymali meets the Brooklyn Raga Massive Crew

Mauritania’s greatest singer, Noura Mint Seymali and her husband/guitarist, Jeiche Ould Chighaly performed live in studio with two members of the Brooklyn Raga Massive,  Jay Gandhi (bansuri flute) and Ehren Hanson (Tabla).  They met at the ASAMAAN Festival of Music & Astronomy in the Gorée Island – Dakar, Sénégal on April 2013 but had never performed together until this day.
We're rebroadcasting this episode as Noura Mint Seymali is doing a free concert at the Lincoln Center Atrium tonight! http://www.lincolncenter.org/show/noura-mint-seymali
 
Noura Mint Seymali is a nationally beloved star and one of Mauritania’s foremost musical emissaries.  Born into a prominent line of Moorish griot, Noura began her career at age 13 as a supporting vocalist with her step-mother, the legendary Dimi Mint Abba.  Trained in instrumental technique by her grandmother, Mounina, Noura mastered the ardine, a 9-string harp reserved only for women.  Seymali Ould Ahmed Vall, Noura’s father and namesake, sparked her compositional instincts, himself a seminal scholar figure in Mauritanian music; studying Arab classical music in Iraq, devising the first system for Moorish melodic notation, adapting the national anthem, and composing many works popularized by his wife, Dimi.  Reared in this transitive culture where sounds from across the Sahara, the Magreb, and West Africa coalesce, Noura Mint Seymali currently drives the legacy forward as one of Mauritania’s most adventurous young artists.
Fueled by the exploratory sound of her husband Jeiche Ould Chighaly’s emotive psych guitar lines, Noura and Jeiche formed their first “fusion” band in 2004.  Jeiche, a master of the tidinit (aka. ngoni, xalam), brings the force of yet another important line of Moorish griot to bear, translating the tidinit’s intricate phrasing to a modified electric guitar with heroic effect.  His unique sound, mirroring vocal lines and then refracting their melodies into the either, was born out of years presiding over wedding ceremonies, directing the dance often as the sole melodic instrument.  In addition to his work with Noura, Jeiche remains one of Nouakchott’s most sought after guitarists for traditional ceremonies.
After two albums – Tarabe (2006) & El Howl (2010) – released locally in Mauritania and years of experimentation adapting Moorish music to various pop formations, Noura Mint Seymali’s current band is a concise return to the roots, a light formation led by the “azawan,” a word in Hassaniya that refers to the collective ensemble of traditional instruments; the ardine, tidinit, guitar.  Backed by a declarative, funk-speaking rhythm section, composed of Ousmane Touré (bass) and Matthew Tinari (drums), the band has made a formidable debut on the international stage, releasing two EPs – Azawan (2012) & Azawan II (2013) – and touring widely.  The band’s first full-length album for the international market – TZENNI –  is set for release via Gliiterbeat Records on June 20, 2014 and to be followed by an extensive North American tour.
Though performances at events like globalFEST (USA), Festival-au-Desert (Mali), Hayy Festival (Egypt), Jeux de Francophonie (France) and Festival Timitar (Morocco) and collaborations with artists like Tinariwen, Bassekou Kouyaté, and Baaba Maal, the band is actively exposing Mauritanian roots music to the world.  In a rare merger of cultural authority and experimental prowess, Noura Mint Seymali applies the ancient musical traditions of the griot with a savvy aesthetic engagement in our contemporary moment, emerging as a powerful voice at nexus of a changing Africa.

Ezra Gale and Molly Tigre - Podcast 267

We get to have a great hang with Ezra Gale of Molly Tigray!
Molly Tigre marries the rhythms and melodies of African music– especially the entrancing styles from Ethiopia and Mali- with a uniquely progressive and exploratory jazz sound. Featuring the compositions of saxophonist Mitch Marcus (Donovan, Dave Dreiwitz) and bassist Ezra Gale (Super Hi-Fi, Aphrodesia), the band also features saxophonist Chris Hiatt (JaponizeElephants), drummer Joe Abba (Dave Douglas, The Ramones, Donny McCaslin) and percussionist Ibrahima Kolipe Camara (National Dance Company of Guinea, Kakande). The New York City based-quintet has been stewing since 2015, but their wide-ranging sound hasn't been captured on tape until now.

Arun Luthra - Podcast 264

We get to hang with the great New York saxophonist Arun Luthra.  He's got a show coming up with his Konokol jazz project this Friday at Flushing Town Hall.  
Arun Luthra is one of the premier saxophonists and composers on New York’s jazz scene, and is one of the small group of American jazz musicians of Indian heritage who have continued to explore to possibilities of fusing the modern post-bop sound with elements of Indian classical music, as well drawing from a wide variety of modern & classic musical influences to create a vibrant new sound & style.  He has performed the music of his Konnakol Jazz Project worldwide, including Japan, Italy, the U.K., Australia, and throughout the United States.
 

Martha Redbone Podcast 263

We get to have a conversation with the great singer and songwriter Martha Redbone.  She'll be collaborating this Friday April 13, 2018 with Brooklyn Raga Massive,as part of the Outside (In)dia Series produced by India Center Foundation, Brooklyn Raga Massive and Lincoln Center.  

Aakash Mittal Podcast 262

Saxophonist Aakash Mittal draws his inspiration from a plethora of sources.  We sit down and talk with him in anticiaption of Aawaz trio show March 11 at National Sawdust.  We'll also hear his live set from 2017s Ragas Live Festival at Rubin Museum of Art with Rez Abassi on Guitar and Alex Ritz on Drums.

Randy Weston Podcast 261

An intimate conversation with Randy Weston at his home in Brooklyn in 2010.  The master jazz musician tells tales of his times with Charlie Parker, Max Roach, Fela Kuti and countless legends.  Among many accomplishments, Mr. Weston is responsible for bringing gnawa music to a much larger audience, so we thought we'd share this interview before we host Innov Gnawa at a concert at the Mercy Home in Brooklyn this Wednesday.  Tickets for that concert 2/28/18 are available here on the airbnb platform

Sameer Gupta's Circle Has No Beginning - Podcast 260

In anticipation of his album release Feb 16 at Littlefield, the tabla/drumset maverick came to WKCR and shared some exclusive live tracks.  
 
 

Simon Shaheen - Podcast 259

We get to hang at home with Simon Shaheen!  He performs live on the oud and shares a few live performances.  We also had an in-depth discussion about maqam and the history of Arabic Music.  

Hugh Masekela Interview Podcast 258

I just got word that the great Hugh Masekela passed away.  This week we revisit a 2013 interview with him.
Hugh Masekela is the most well known jazz musician from Africa.  His first big hit was in 1968 and he has sold millions of albums, won multiple Grammys and worked with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Dizzy Gillespie. Fresh off a tour with Paul Simon, he and his band are super-refined, with perfect vocal harmonies, deep grooves, and inspired improvisations.    Masekela is considered a legend of South African Music and the apartheid struggle, but that's not how he see's it.
I got to spend sometime backstage with him and now so do you!
 
Here's one quote from the interview:
"I never had a career, I had an obsession with music.  And my obsession with it, and maybe a little gift that I had, threw me into the area, but my aim, even when I came overseas, was to learn and to study and everything else is a coincidence.  But I didn't plan to make it for myself.   If you look at anybody who is out there to make it for themselves they self-destruct.  They become very big and then they self-destruct. As long as you've got the "me" thing in your head you're doomed." - Hugh Masekela
 

Bass Legend Bakithi Kumalo

Bakithi Kumalo is a four time Grammy Winning bassist who came to the world's attention on Paul Simon's Graceland Album.  We hang with him and here one of his new tracks.